Clay-feeder.



A. 0. DUPUY.

CLAY FEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 1. I915.

1 ,238, 1 1 '7 Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

. JV VAT/V7016? I a 4 6) A. O. DUPUY.

CLAY FEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 7. 1915.

1 ,238, 1 1 '7. Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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r s'rarns PATENT oruio ARTHUR O. DUPUY, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE C. O. BARTLETT AND SNOW COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

CLAY-FEEDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

Application filed January 7, 1915. Serial No. 1,041.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR O. DUPUY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident ofClevelaud, county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, ha e invented a new and useful Improvement in Clay-Feeders, of which the following is a specification, the principle of the invention being herein explained and the best mode in which I have contemplated applying that principle, so as to distinguish it from other inventions.

The present improvements relate to a machine for mechanically feeding clay to a disintegrator which prepares the clay for use in a brick press. At present there is no machine which will successfully feed the clay to the disintegrator, as the action must be continuous and even, and in all brick plants this work is now done by manual labor. The present mechanism is, however, adapted to break up the clay, thus partially preparing it for the brick press and lightening the work of the disintegrator, and is also adapted to continuously perform this operation, feeding the clay evenly. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends said invention then consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The annexed drawings and the following description set forth in detail certain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawing Figure 1 is a side elevation of my mechanism; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same with the chute omitted; 3 is a similar plan view, but illustrating a modification in the construction; and Figs. 4: and 5 are diagrammatic plan views illustrating other changes in the construction of the invention.

In Fig. 1 there is shown a chute having oppositely disposed slides 1 and 2. The chute may have side members, thus forming a completely inclosed conduit, but preferably the sides will be open, as the clay which is deposited in the chute will bank up on either side of the same, and will thus form the other sides of the opening without any actual construction of the same. The chute is open at its bottom and is adapted to direct the material which is fed into it, against the feeding mechanism. The feeding mechanism may be disposed either horizontally or at an angle as illustrated in Fig. 1, this point being determined chiefly by the layout of the plant and the point at which the material is to be supplied.

The feeding mechanism proper, consists of two parallel frame members 3, mounted at either side of the bottom opening in the chute, and provided upon the upper surfaces with a plurality of pairs of spaced pins 4. Loosely mounted in each of such pair of pins 4 is a bar 5, extending partially across the space between the members 3, and attached at its free end to a driving member 6, which is disposed in the same plane as the side members 3, and preferably substantially equidistant from each of said members. At either end of the frame there is provided a pivoted support 7 which is mounted upon a horizontal axis at its lower end, and extends normally at substantially right angles to the plane of the members 3 and (3, the upper end of such support 7, lying in such plane. The'cl'riving member 6 is pivotally attached to the upper ends of the support 7. The pivotal attachment on the left-hand support 7 and the driving member 6, is by means of a shaft 8 which extends to one side of the frame where it is attached to a connecting rod 9, driven by an eccentric 10 on the driving shaft 11. The attachment of the shaft 8 to the connecting rod 9 is by means of adjustable blocks 12 and 13, and a right and left hand-screw 14, which is adapted to vary the position of the blocks 12 and 13, and thus the operating length of the connecting rod 9. In this way the movement of the driving member 6 may be varied to suit the condition or the clay which is being fed. Under ordinary conditions I have found it desirable to give the driving member 6 a movement in each direction, which is substantially twice as great as the width of the bars 5. Upon the upper surfaces of these bars I provide prongs 15, which serve the purpose of cutting and breaking up the clay when the same is in lumps, and permitting the same to be fed down, by the weight of the material above, against the bars 5, when it will be broken up by the action of these bars.

It will be noticed that the driving member 6, and hence the inner ends of the bar 5, are given a certain amount of movement 1n a vertical plane by reason of the are through which the ends of the driving member are swung. This construction enables the cutting bars 5 to dig into the clay when the driving member is brought past the positlon at which the supports 7 are at right angles to the plane of the frame. The action of the bars is to out off strips or shavings of the clay, and this action is secured irrespective of the size of the lumps which are in the clay, since these lumps are broken up by the vertical movement of the bars.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modification of the construction described above, the difierence being that the bars 17 shown in this figure, are pivotally attached at one end to a fixed frame member 18, which is disposed parallel to one side of the chute, but a considerable distance beyond the same. The other ends of these bars are pivotally attached to a driving member 19 which may be reciprocated in any suitable manner. The support 18 is spaced a considerable distance from the side of the chute in order that the bar 17 may have sufiicient movement at the side adjacent to the support 18, to successfully operate upon the clay, as bars which are pivoted to a fixed support which is too close to the side of the chute will not operate successfully on the clay along that side.

In Figs. l and 5 I have shown other movements which may be given to the bars. In Fig. 4: these bars are shown as rigidly attached at either side to driving members 20, which are reciprocated in unison, and the bars are made to move in the same direction at the same time. In Fig. 5 the same construction is shown, but the bars are here reciprocated in opposite directions, thus giving a swinging movement to the bars about a point central between the two driving members. In each figure the arrows indicate the direction of movement of the bars.

The present machine has been found to operate successfully to break the clay into lumps of a uniform size and this lightens the work of the disintegrator to a very appreciable extent. My mechanism is however neither complicated nor expensive.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention 1. In a clay feeder, the combination of a clay-receiving chute open at its bottom, a plurality of spaced bars lying in a horizontal plane and extending across such bottom, said bar being mounted to move horizontally, and means adapted to reciprocate said bars in a horizontal plane across the spaces between the same.

2. In a clay feeder, the combination of a clay-receiving chute open at its bottom, a plurality of spaced bars extending across such bottom, said bars having one end relatively fixed and being mounted to move laterally, and means adapted to reciprocate said bars about such fixed ends over a distance substantially equal to the space between each two bars, whereby said bars jointly travel over the entire bottom of said chute.

3. In a clay feeder, the combination of a clay receiving chute open at its bottom, two parallel members mounted, one at each side of such bottom opening, a plurality of spaced bars pivotally and slidably mounted on each of said members and extending partially across the space therebetween, a driving member disposed between said firstnamed members and pivotally attached to the inner ends of said bars, and means adapted to reciprocate said driving member.

In a clay feeder, the combination of a clay receiving chute open at its bottom, two parallel members mounted, one at each side of such bottom opening, a plurality of spaced bars pivotally and slidably mounted on each of said members and extending partially across the space therebetween, a driving member disposed between said firstnamed members and pivotally attached to the inner ends of said bars, a pivoted support for either end of said driving member, each of said supports being at substantially right angles to the plane of said members, and means adapted to reciprocate said driving member.

5. In a clay feeder, the combination of a clay receiving chute open at its bottom, two parallel frame members mounted, one at each side of such bottom opening, a plurality of pairs of pins disposed on the upper surfaces of said members at suitable intervals, a plurality of bars, each loosely received in one of said pairs of-pins, said bars extending partially across the space between said frame members, a pivoted support at either end of such bottom opening, said supports being disposed at substantially right angles to the plane of said frame members and centrally between the same, a driving member pivotally attached to the free ends of said supports and lying in the plane of said frame members, said bars being pivotally attached to said driving member,

and the means adapted to reciprocate said drlvmg member.

Slgned by me, th1s 5th day of January,

ARTHUR O. DUPUY. Attested by H. B. FAY, A. L. GILL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. 

